Soul anchor is a broad term used to describe various magical devices used to lock an entity to a particular plane of existence.
History[]
Thordak's soul anchor[]
Allura Vysoren's adventuring party attempted to deal with the threat of the red dragon Thordak in 794 PD by binding him to the Elemental Plane of Fire. The party collaborated with the Arcana Pansophical and Fire Ashari to devise a trap that could, they believed, permanently seal Thordak within that plane, preventing him from ever returning to Exandria.[1] A member of the party posed as a follower of Thordak, gained his trust, and convinced the dragon he would be able to empower himself by using the heart crystal of a primordial fire titan.[2] This heart crystal was actually a soul anchor which could not be removed from the Fire Plane and remained embedded in the dragon's chest, smooth and jagged and pulsing with power.[3]
However, during his imprisonment in the Elemental Plane of Fire, Thordak was approached by Raishan, who agreed to find a way to release him in return for him curing her fatal disease. This led to the formation of the Chroma Conclave and Thordak's eventual freeing to the Material Plane, where the dragons wreaked havoc before being defeated by Vox Machina.[4][5]
Pinion of Service[]
The Pinion was a spinning purple crystal covered in runes, originally connected to the Nox Engine powering the city of Aeor.[6] However, it was "of the Abyss", so that although demons when slain normally return to the Abyss, the bound demon Dominox would instead return to the Pinion to forever run the engine.[7] As long as the seals around the engine remained intact, Dominox would remain bound.[8]
In 843 PD after the apogee solstice, Dominox was released,[9] and although the demon was still bound to the crystal and unable to attack it or get too close to it, he was also incapable of walking away or leaving the engine room.[10] He sent visions to Bells Hells, an adventuring party visiting the ruins, telling them to find and destroy the crystal. When they finally found the engine room, he tried to trick them into destroying the device (telling them it was the treasure Ludinus Da'leth wanted), and ended up attacking them. Imogen Temult tried and failed to move the Pinion with Telekinesis, and when Ashton Greymoore used his Space rage to teleport Dominox towards it, he was repelled and fell on top of Fearne Calloway. She, however, took the form of a wombat to get to the crystal and put it in her marsupial pouch, after which she gave it to Chetney Pock O'Pea, who put it inside his Bag of Holding, angering the demon. Even when the Pinion was in an extradimensional space its connection with Dominox didn't fade, so when Imogen used her powers to send Chetney through a hallway, Dominox was yanked in the same direction.[11] Fearne later identified the Pinion as a powerful, but now empty soul anchor.[12] The party discussed using it to trap either Ludinus or Delilah, before deciding to have Essek Thelyss research the possibility of binding Delilah such that she would be captive but her power would remain available to Laudna.[13] After the party Teleported to Rexxentrum, Essek performed the ritual with assistance from each of the party members, successfully forcing Delilah's soul into the soul anchor implanted in Laudna's chest, where she provided power for her warlock magic but would be forever imprisoned and unable to control Laudna's actions.[14]
Description[]
The soul anchors known to date have taken the form of crystals of varying colors and sizes.
Trivia[]
- The Athtiri-Mentaal used by Trent Ikithon to bind Omentis was similar but not identical to a soul anchor.
References[]
- ↑ See "Desperate Measures" (1x40) from 2:36:18 through 2:42:03.
- ↑ See "Duskmeadow" (1x57) at 03:12:35.
- ↑ See "In Ruins" (1x41) at 2:35:28.
- ↑ See "The Family Business" (1x47) from 0:47:31 through 0:49:32. Explained by Cerkonos to Keyleth
- ↑ See "The Family Business" (1x47) at 1:09:18.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) from 3:34:12 through 3:35:51.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:36:22.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:35:22.
- ↑ See "Ancient Sins" (3x97) at 3:35:22.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 1:29:53.
- ↑ See "The Nox Engine" (3x98) at 2:57:00.
- ↑ See "Reconciliation" (3x102) at 3:29:56.
- ↑ See "Reconciliation" (3x102) at 3:34:18.
- ↑ See "Cages" (3x103) from 0:13:59 through 1:01:09.
Art:
- ↑ Screenshot of Thordak's soul anchor from "Rise of the Chroma Conclave" (LVM2x01). This file is a copyrighted work. Its use in this article is asserted to qualify as fair use of the material under United States copyright law.